Gooood evening football fans! A Friday-night feast for you in the Championship tonight as Birmingham take on Cardiff at St Andrew's. Both sides harbour hopes of reaching the playoffs this season and tonight's game is the last to impress before Christmas.

We are! ⚽️ ⚽️ ⚽️ ⚽️ ⚽️

BIRMINGHAM XI: Kuszczak; Eardley, Morrison, Spector, Lowry; Gleeson, Kieftenbeld; Gray, Toral, Maghoma; Vaughan
Subs: Legzdins, Solomon-Otabor, Shinnie, Davis, Caddis, Brock-Madsen, Halford

Gary Rowett makes a pair of changes to the side that drew 1-1 at Preston North End on Tuesday night. Jonathan Grounds misses out through injury, so Shane Lowry makes his Blues debut at left-back, while in attacking midfield Jon Toral is preferred to Andrew Shinnie.

CARDIFF XI: Marshall; Peltier, Morrison, Connolly, Malone; Ameobi, Gunnarsson, Ralls, Pilkington; Watt, Jones
Subs: Moore, Fabio, Manga, Whittingham, O'Keefe, Noone, Mason

Like Rowett, Russell Slade makes two changes to his starting XI. Scott Malone gets the nod ahead of Fabio at left-back, while on the right of midfield Shola Ameobi comes in for Craig Noone.

Slade could have stuck with Tuesday's winning formula after the 3-2 win over Brentford, but he has decided to shake it up a little bit. No surprise to see Tony Watt and Kenwyne Jones keep their places though - the duo have begun to form a neat little strike partnership of late and were both on the scoresheet against the Bees.

While the Bluebirds' forwards are on form, the same can't be said of Birmingham. They are without main striker Clayton Donaldson and have not scored in six of their last seven home league games. Their overall form is no win in five and just one victory in the last nine 😬

Still, a win for Rowett's men tonight would take them level on points with their opponents and just one point behind Ipswich Town, who host high-flying Derby County tomorrow, in the final playoff place. Their form has dipped, but Birmingham are not out of the playoff race yet!

If Birmingham are to reignite their season then now would be a good time to do it. Three of their next four games, in just 15 days by the way, are against the teams either side of them - Cardiff, Sheffield Wednesday and Brentford - in the table. A real chance to take some points off those around them and move up the table.

Cardiff's improve form of late has coincided with Jones and Watt starting together. The Bluebirds are unbeaten in the four games the pair have led the line, winning two and scoring at least two in each match as well. Despite this, Slade has recently said that he wants to further bolster his frontline in January.

H2H: Cardiff have gone seven league games without defeat against the Blues, last season winning 2-0 at home after a goalless draw here at St Andrew's. In fact, Birmingham have failed to find the back of the net in each of their last three against the Bluebirds - not a good sign considering they've failed to score in six of their last seven at home.

Rowett will be looking for James Vaughan to find his feet tonight. The Huddersfield Town loanee is yet to score in his three appearances since joining the Blues on loan.

There were five goals between Wolves and Leeds last night and we could be in for a few tonight as well!

Right then, everyone ready? The two teams are out of the tunnel and we're just about ready to go. Cardiff in their all-red away jersey, which was, not long ago, their home kit of course.

KICKOFF! The visitors get us underway at St Andrew's.

First clear-cut opening falls to the in-form team, Cardiff. Watt pressures Kieftenbeld in midfield and the latter's pass is picked off in the middle. Pilkington, Watt and Jones streak forward on the break and it's Watt who has it on the right but he can't either test Marshall or find Jones in the middle.

Gray's run down the left results in a Blues corner, but it comes to nothing as Ameobi brings the ball out before being brought down. Morrison wants a penalty after falling to the ground with Peltier and although he did seem to be wrestled to the floor, you very rarely get them.

CHANCE! Cardiff should be in front. Watt is given far too much time about 25 yards out and he produces an inventive outside-of-the-boot cross that Pilkington just has to get on target at the back stick. Oddly, though, he decided to try to find Jones with a knockback into the six-yard box and the striker was as surprised as I was.

Looks like Cardiff are going to be dealt an early blow here with centre-back Morrison seemingly unable to continue. He went in to a full-blooded 50-50 tackle with Vaughan a minute ago and seems to have come off worse.

CARDIFF SUB: It doesn't look good for Morrison as he is helped down the tunnel. Bruno Ecuele Manga, who had a fine season last year but has struggled to get in the team this term, is on in his place.

CHANCE! Good grief, almost the perfect impact from Manga as he misses a free header in the box from Pilkington's free kick.

Birmingham have managed only one clean sheet in their last six games after four in the previous seven and it's hard to see them shutting Cardiff out given how much space the visitors seem to be getting already.

Gleeson puts a menacing ball into the Cardiff box and Manga heads out for Birmingham's second corner of the match. Like the first, it comes to nothing.

Nice work down the Cardiff left as Malone plays a sharp one-two before fizzing over a low cross that's just too strong for both Jones and Watt.

Ho ho ho! 🎅

CHANCE! It's Cardiff again who go close as a cross from the right is deflected high before being met by Jones, whose header lacks power and is saved by Kuszczak.

Cardiff have been forced to make a defensive change and Birmingham are about to follow suit. Eardley is stricken on the turf and knows his game is up.

BIRMINGHAM SUB: Caddis, who lost his place at right-back to Eardley earlier this season, comes on. Eardley doesn't seem to be in too much discomfort, but it's one of those problems that he know he can't play on with.

So, over a quarter of the way through the match now and it's going to form. Cardiff, who have picked up seven points out of a possible nine of late, look more confident and Birmingham are doing little to suggest that they will return to winning ways tonight.

CLOSE! Excellent counter-attacking from Cardiff. Manga started it off with a firm pass out of defence to Peltier and he then quickly found Watt. The striker turned well to lose his man in the middle and teed up Pilkington, whose shot took a deflection and looped just off target.

Gray produces a dangerous cross from the left that Malone stoops low to head away. A murmur or two from the home supporters, but there's been little for them to get excited about so far.

It's now over 300 minutes of football that have been played since Birmingham last scored at home. They threaten from a corner, but Spector goes to ground when he might have had a free header if he'd stayed on his feet.

A third shot off target from the home side as Kieftenbeld's ambitious 30-yard volley, unsurprisingly, goes high and wide.

BOOKING! Birmingham debutant Lowry is the first player to be cautioned for taking out Ameobi on the touchline.

A half-chance, at best, for Birmingham, who have started to improve in the last few minutes. Gray uses his quick feet down the right to get into a good crossing position, but his centre is behind Toral and the Arsenal loanee can't direct his header goalwards.

SHOT! Ameobi is dangerous when he cuts in from the right onto his stronger left foot and Birmingham give him too much time here, although his shot is fairly tame and Kuszczak holds comfortably.

Connolly is adjudged to have handled the ball, but referee David Coote has made an awful decision. It hit the Cardiff man in the face.

Cardiff players protest the decision as three minutes are added on.

The Blues' chief penalty taker makes no mistake from 12 yards after coming on as a substitute. It's Birmingham's first goal at home in over two months, but they should have never had the chance.

The thing with that decision is that Connolly was inside the six-yard box and almost certainly stopped the ball going into the net with his face. It was a brave block and his hand was not too far away, but if Stroud thinks that he has 'saved' it, then surely he should have been sent off?

Dear oh dear. What an awful decision that was from referee Coote. For him to point to the spot he must have just assumed that it hit Connolly's outstretched hand, as replays clearly show it whacked the defender in the chops.

A stat from @OptaJoe on Twitter: "Paul Caddis' penalty is the first home league goal Birmingham have scored in 432 minutes, since Caddis's penalty against QPR. Spot." Mr Reliable from 12 yards.

Caddis's penalty was the only shot on target Birmingham managed in the first half and you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who thinks that they deserve to lead this game. The Bluebirds created the better chances and will wonder how they're losing this one.

Cardiff manager Slade had a right go at the ref as the officials made their way down the tunnel. Watching the replays of the incident now, Coote could not have seen whether it hit Connolly in the face or on the hand because he was directly behind Vaughan, the Birmingham player shooting. For him to blow his whistle so quickly and point to the spot, it's simply guesswork. Not what a referee should base their decision on.

Here is the penalty incident. You'll see just how wrong he's got this one.

Cardiff have had 60% possession in an away game so far, but that should not be all too surprising as Birmingham are the worst team in the league at keeping the ball - the Blues have averaged just 41.6% possession in league games this season.

KICKOFF! We're back underway at St Andrew's. Cardiff have got to forget about that penalty right at the end of the first half, but can they recover from it?

A reminder that both teams were forced into a first-half substitution, with Caddis and Manga coming on for Eardley and Morrison.

SAVE! Birmingham so close to doubling their lead as Maghoma fees Toral and his fierce effort towards the near top corner is kept out by Marshall's sharp save.

If Birmingham can get a quick second goal, it might just kill Cardiff off. They already look pretty deflated and don't seem to have recovered from the unjust Birmingham penalty shortly before half time. Slade might need to make a change to inject some life into his players.

One Cardiff player in particular that has been barely noticeable in the last half an hour or so is Watt. He was everywhere in the opening 20 minutes or so, but has barely seen any of the ball since then.

Connolly, oddly quite far forward for a defender, shows great feet to work space for a cross and then delivers an inviting ball that Morrison does well to clear away.

As it stands in the Championship, Cardiff will be joining Birmingham on 33 points, just one behind Ipswich in the final playoff spot.

Into the final half an hour then and this one has been a bit of a drab affair. A penalty which should never have been given continues to separate the sides and apart from a couple of other chances, there really hasn't been much to shout about. Come on lads, turn it on!

Action at both ends, that's more like it! First Pilkington failed to take Watt's path in his stride, when he would have been through on goal, before Gray's quick feet saw him beat Peltier and deliver a low cross that Marshall held.

CLOSE! Cardiff's first attempt on goal in the second half and they're so close to equalising. Ameobi picked out Malone on the left and his low cross was flicked goalwards by Pilkington. You're waiting for the net to bulge, but it flies just wide of the upright.

BOOKING! Spector the second Birmingham player into the book for tugging at Watt off the ball and not allowing the Charlton loanee to get away.

Well I asked for a bit more liveliness and we've certainly had some the last few minutes!

BIRMINGHAM SUB: Understandable change this from Rowett as he takes off attack-minded Rowett for a more solid midfielder in Davis.

MISS! Ameobi has been one of Cardiff's better players, but he's had a shocker here. Watt's surging run forward attracted a lot of attention and that left Ameobi in plenty of space in the box. Watt fed him and he tried to open his body Thierry Henry-style, but somehow sent the ball miles wide. Terrible finish!

BOOKING! Substitutions, shocking misses and savage tackling, we've got it all now! Kieftenbeld is carded for a high foot on Manga.

OFF THE POST! And now some woodwork action! Watt drives forward and bursts into the Birmingham box before cutting back into the six-yard box. Spector is there to clear, but he can't get his feet right and inadvertently diverts the ball against the foot of his own post.

Watt seems to have his head in the game again and he's just had a tough shooting opportunity from a tight angle that he's sliced high and wide.

It's been much better from Cardiff the last 10 minutes or so, but still they have no goal for their efforts. Remember, the Bluebirds have scored 10 goals in their last four games, so failing to find the net here would be a surprise.

Brentford defender Harlee Dean has been impressed by Watt:

BIRMINGHAM SUB: Lowry's Blues debut comes to an end and thrown on by Rowett is utility man Halford.

CARDIFF SUBS: And Slade also makes his final changes. Noone and Whittingham on, Pilkington and Gunnarsson off.

A half-chance for Gray to kill the game off, but his left-footed attempt on the half-volley rises up and over the bar.

CHANCE! Gray tries his luck from 25 yards, but his shot is blocked and falls kindly for Davis in the area. He has to take it quickly with Peltier quickly closing him down and he panics, dragging his effort out for a throw-in on the far side.

Sought-after youngster Gray has had a quiet game, but he's come to life in the last few minutes and just warmed the palms of Marshall with a rasping drive from a tight angle.

BOOKING! Watt, no doubt frustrated not to have scored tonight, shoves away Gleeson after a bit of handbags. Coote doesn't like that and books the Charlton loanee.

SAVE! Excellent goalkeeping from Kuszczak as he springs to his left to fingertip Malone's shot, which was curling into the far corner, away from danger. Will that be Cardiff's last chance?

There will be four minutes more for Cardiff to preserve their unbeaten run.

Birmingham have done a good job so far of frustrating Cardiff in added time. It looks like the Blues will win for the first time in six games.

One last chance for Cardiff to get the ball in the box, but Ralls's initial free kick is cleared before Malone's audacious volley flies out for a goal kick. That should be that.

A much-needed win for Birmingham, even though Cardiff's players are furious with referee David Coote, who was a late stand-in for Keith Stroud at St Andrew's. The only goal of the game came from the penalty spot after Coote felt that Connolly had blocked a shot with his hand, but clearly it hit his face.

On tonight's display, neither of these two will be a serious challenger for the playoff places this season. Neither was particularly at the races and all it took to separate them was a penalty that should never have been given.

That's all from us tonight. I'll leave you with the latest Championship table, that sees Birmingham move above Cardiff in seventh. The two teams have exactly the same record after 22 games, but Birmingham sit on top because they won tonight's game and therefore have the better head-to-head record. We'll be back tomorrow for plenty more live action, see you then.